Here Without You, Baby
by foreverasianfusion
Summary: Between the Single Ladies dance and the impromptu tap duets and Asian camp and football games with disastrous consequences and parental disapproval and falling into fountains, they had fallen in love.


_**Here Without You, Baby**_

* * *

_**i**_

They had never really spoken.

They had never really looked at each other, really.

They had never been equals.

But then, Glee.

Between the _Single Ladies_ dance and the impromptu tap duets and Asian camp and football games with disastrous consequences and parental disapproval and falling into fountains, they had fallen in love.

* * *

_**ii**_

She doesn't quite know how things had changed so drastically since freshman year. She was so in love with being an independent woman, not necessarily needing a man but welcoming one into her life as long as he treated her right.

Yet now, she couldn't picture her life without Mike Chang.

She assumes that maybe, just maybe, this is a part of growing up.

Being hopelessly in love seems like a good definition to her feelings, too.

* * *

_**iii**_

Graduation.

The word itself scared the crap out of her.

The constant anxiety she felt about being left alone had haunted her ever since his senior prom. Each passing hour was a reminder that a year from any possible moment, she'd be left without him at McKinley while he shined like the star he was at Julliard.

She knew she wouldn't be _completely_ alone. She had Blaine, and Artie, and Sugar, and even Brittany to keep her company. But she certainly couldn't cuddle with them (well, she _could_ with Blaine, but it wouldn't be the same).

Without Mike, she worried that all the progress she had made, facing her social anxiety, getting through a solo without tears, being more outspoken and fearless, would completely crash down due to the fact that her rock was gone.

Anxiety about him arose as well. Tina didn't want to hold him back. She was sure that there were so many girls in New York that would want her boyfriend. And while it broke her heart, she didn't want him to be held back with baggage in the form of a boring, ex-goth Asian girl from Lima, Ohio. She'd feel guilty.

Guilty and alone.

She didn't know if she could handle it.

* * *

_**iv**_

"Mike?"

The lanky dancer lazily turned his head to look at his girlfriend, currently resting next to him after private couple times "Yeah, babe?"

"I love you."

"I love you too, Tee."

If the kiss was a bit bittersweet, Mike didn't notice.

* * *

_**v**_

The next day, Mike boarded a plane to NYC, cheeks stained with tears as the last words Tina said to him rang continuously in his ears.

"I want to break up."

* * *

_**vi**_

Tina was miserable, so miserable.

Yet she hadn't been able to cry, which was odd for her. She had been known as one of the most emotional people most people had ever met, but breaking up the one relationship that truly meant something to her left Tina stoic and cold. Instead she sat in her room, absently staring at the wall as she and Blaine attempted to watch _Chicago_.

It was odd, Blaine noted to himself, to watch _Chicago_ with his best gal pal and not have her belting out the words to _Roxie_ along with him. She sat there, silently, as the song played. And as the movie ended with the dramatic flourish that they had both grown to love, Tina finally collapsed in sobs on his bed.

Unsure of what else to do, Blaine scooped the fragile girl in his arms, and held her as she shook with the intensity of her tears.

* * *

_**vii **_

Tina knows that Mike and Blaine are still the same bros they always were.

Occasionally, while they are hanging out, she'd notice his name flash upon her best friends phone screen.

"How is he?" she asked him one day, not bothering to specify who she meant. He'd know.

Blaine, surprised by her question after acting so indifferent after the break up, answered quietly. "He's um… he's good, Tina." Pausing, he added. "He asks about you, you know. All the time."

Of course he did. Because despite the fact that she broke his heart, he still cared. She both loved and hated the type of man he was.

"That's nice. I'm glad he's good."

Taking his best friends hand, Blaine looked her in the eyes. "He misses you."

She drew her hand away quickly, as if she had been burnt. "He shouldn't. He's better off without me."

"Tina, he _loves_ you. He—"

"He doesn't need me, Blaine! He needs to be single and independent and free to pursue his dream without some crazy emotional girlfriend waiting for him at home!"

With that, Tina stormed out of the room, only to remember that movie night was held at her house that weekend.

She'd always had a flair for dramatics.

* * *

_**viii**_

Thanksgiving Break was planned to be a huge Glee club reunion.

No one was dreading it more than Mike Chang.

Seeing all his friends would be awesome.

Seeing the girl who broke his heart would not.

As he arrived at the airport with Kurt and Rachel, his newfound partners in crime in the big, bad, city, he had quickly gravitated towards his parents who were waiting for him.

He ignored the pain in his chest when he noticed that Kurt and Rachel went straight to their significant others.

* * *

_**ix**_

Two days after Thanksgiving, Mike arrived to the Glee reunion at Breadstix. Apparently, Sugar's father rented out the restaurant just for the club and its returning members.

As soon as he stepped inside, a familiar mix of laughter and music filled his ears, and he couldn't help but smile at the familiarity of it.

Lost in his reminiscing of the years past, he didn't notice as he walked into someone next to him.

Ever the gentleman, Mike began to apologize. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't-."

"It's… It's f-fine." The stuttering was purely unintentional. "Hi Mike…"

"Hey, Tee…"

* * *

_**x.**_

Tina's eyes were constantly drawn to Mike as the night drew on.

While chatting with Artie, his bright yellow plaid shirt continuously caught her eye from across the room.

His dance moves, more refined then when she last saw them, attempted to draw her closer. She needed every ounce of will power in her body to avoid going over to him and dancing like they used to.

His infectious laugh was heard over all others while they all shared stories from the past three years.

His voice, even, rang clearly in her ears from across the room as they all reprised songs from their final National performance in Chicago.

It had gotten to the point where she couldn't take it anymore, so with a quiet goodbye and a kiss on the cheek to Blaine, she made her way outside towards her car.

Yet, just as she reached for her door handle, a familiar voice stopped her.

"I miss you."

Slowly turning around, she faced Mike. "You should hate me."

He chucked in the way she had grown so accustomed to when he thought she was being silly or overthinking things too much, yet this time the laugh had something else that she couldn't quite put her finger on. Bitterness, perhaps. "I could never hate you."

"Fine. Then you shouldn't miss me." A look of hurt flashed upon his face, so she continued. "I broke up with you, Mike. It has been almost three months. Why would you even miss me if there is a plethora of girls at Julliard who are probably dying to get to know you and support you just like I would!"

"Is that what this was really about, Tina? You broke up with me because you thought… you weren't good enough?"

Silent tears rolled down the Asian girls face, and she quietly cursed herself for once again being so sensitive. "I'm not," she answered quietly, "because you deserve the world. And I'm just… the weird goth girl who you fell in love with at Asian camp when you were sixteen. Things change, Mike. Us staying together? It would have just prolonged the inevitable."

Mike walked up to her, taking her face gently in his hands. "You are my world, Tina." He winced at the cliché, smiling a bit as she did the same. "Okay, the was really cheesy. I know. But.. it doesn't make it any less true. I love you Tina, I still do. And I know that you think you aren't the amazing catch that you are, but that's okay. Because I'm going to spend my whole life proving to you that you are everything I ever want."

She wanted to kiss him. She _really _wanted to kiss him for being so sweet and kind and amazing and compassionate and just the perfect man that she always knew he was. Instead, she just shook her head, trying to avoid eye contact with him. "What do you want from me, Mike?"

"I just want you, Tina. I want—"

He couldn't finish his sentence, Tina's lips were too busy crashing into his.

* * *

_**xi**_.

Stepping back into Breadstix hand in hand, the pair couldn't help but giggle as the Glee club and its alumni broke out in spontaneous applause.

Blaine ran up to the couple, grinning. "Back together?"

Instead of answering, Mike pulled Tina close to him and kissed him as hard as he would allow himself in public.

Puck nodded, clapping his hand on Blaines shoulder. "Definitely back together."

* * *

_Sadly, I do not own Glee. Or Mike Chang. Or Tina Cohen-Chang. (I wish.)_


End file.
